Easton wants extension for waterfront project

City asks for another six months to finish work funded by $2.1 million grant.

October 10, 2009|By Michael Duck Of The Morning Call

Anticipating that Easton's Delaware River waterfront revitalization project won't finish on time at the end of 2009, Easton officials have asked for a six-month extension on a $2.1 million grant that's funding much of the work.

The project involves changes to Larry Holmes Drive and the adjoining Riverside and Scott parks. The road work is to start next week and is still on track to wrap up in December, Public Works Director David Hopkins said, but "cold weather is setting in, [and] it's unrealistic to think that we could complete the park work."

The planned park improvements include planting and seeding that's better done in the spring than the fall, said Hopkins, who asked to extend the deadline to June.

Since the project was proposed less than a year ago, Easton officials knew they'd have to rush to meet a Dec. 31 deadline, a condition of the $2.1 million grant from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. But even with the fast-tracked design, approval and building schedule, "you can only work things as fast as they can be moved," Hopkins said.

In addition to the bridge commission money, the project relies on $257,000 in federal funds and $1.3 million from the state Department of Transportation.

Bridge commission spokesman Joe Donnelly confirmed the commission had received Easton's extension request. To grant it, the commission would have to extend the deadline for all its Compact Authorized Investment grants, not just Easton's, he said.

However, Donnelly noted the toll bridge commission agreed last October to a similar deadline extension, from the end of 2008 to the end of 2009.